To Be the Greatest REVISED EDITION
by Karmaseth
Summary: After the war, Roy is only half the man he once was, but a chance encounter with a young alchemist changes his views and sets the wheel in motion for much bigger events. :Oneshot:


A/N: I do not own FMA or any of its characters; I do, however own this plot.

**To Be the Greatest**

Roy Mustang wandered the streets of Central as if he no longer had a soul. His gaze was down at the earth, which he felt he was buried six feet under. His life had been ripped away by war. He stopped suddenly and stared at his hands. On them were pure white gloves, but to him, they would never be white. They were stained with blood of countless victims in Ishbal. He felt his stomach lurch at the thought.

The streets were crowded to the brim. No one paid any attention to the broken man that was hidden in their ranks; the man in the worn uniform of the State.

Roy felt his mind beginning to wander constantly to the Ishbal Massacre. He wanted desperately to forget it. He knew, however that it would haunt his dreams for eternity. He didn't need Maes telling him how everything would be alright, or how a girlfriend would make his life more bearable. That was why he left today. It would still be a few hours before Maes' daily visit. He would always bring sweets made by his girlfriend to cheer him up. Maes' optimism worked for a while, but then, once he leaves, the emptiness would always come back. Yet another reason for leaving was he didn't want to be around when Maes spotted the alchemic arrays etched on the floor in paint, the arrays associated with forbidden alchemy.

A sudden surge of noise jostled Roy from his memories. There was a large group of people gathered around the center of the street. He could hear a woman shouting above the roaring crowd.

"Is there no one out there who can defeat me!" Her voice was full of strength and confidence, something Roy wished he could feel. He could only imagine the beauty of the body it was attached to. Roy allowed himself to be pulled away from the spectacle as he continued on his lonely path to no where, but the voice soon caught his attention again.

"You there! State dog!" Roy turned at this. The woman had worked her way through the crowd. Her hair was a fiery red, short, and hung in curls around her face. She surveyed Roy's haggard looking appearance. "You're the Flame Alchemist!" she said loudly. Her green eyes flashed in delight.

"Congratulations on your astute observation," Roy said sarcastically. He was not in the mood to fight with anyone at the moment.

"Why don't you fight me?" she asked, crossing her arms. She was shorter than Roy, but still looked up at him, undaunted. Perhaps it was due to Roy's slouching.

"Why would I want to fight you?" Roy growled impatiently.

"What's the matter?" some guy in the crowd screamed. "Too scared to fight a girl?" Several people began to laugh and Roy felt his face growing hot in anger.

"Gee," the girl said, "I wouldn't want a rumor like that to fly around me if I was you." She looked at him fiercely, her eyes glinting strangely in the sunlight. Without warning, she suddenly backhanded him. A loud crack permeated the air.

Roy stood in shock for a few moments which was quickly replaced by anger.

"How dare you-"

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and fight me," the woman said in a threatening whisper. Roy stared at her in wonder. Was Roy feeling sorry for himself? With out warning the girl grabbed him the wrist and dragged him into the ring.

The ring was a wooden platform about five square meters in area. The woman left Roy at one end of the ring and she quickly walked over to the other.

"The rules are simple, first one to be knocked out the ring loses, no aiming to kill, alchemy and physical strength are both aloud and by the way my name is Bellona."

"Wait," Roy said, his voice beginning to rise, "I never conceded to this!" But Bellona paid him no mind as she charged him, her hands outstretched. She quickly grabbed onto his shoulders and Roy felt a freezing cold rip through him. He exhaled and saw his breath. Out of instinct, he pushed the woman away roughly. She grinned at him.

"I didn't think you'd like the cold," she said silkily. She charged again, but this time Roy was ready. He snapped his fingers and flames shot out his hand. Bellona dodged easily. "Nice shot, but not good enough." She ran at him again and Roy shot fire at her shoulder. Bellona dropped down to the ground and drop-kicked Roy's ankle. He fell backward will a yelp.

A hand came down on top of his chest, but before it could make contact, he rolled quickly out of the way and shot more fire at Bellona, he managed to skim her shoulder, but she suddenly clapped her hands together and a surge of cold wind hit him, nearly knocking him out of the ring. His heels hung over the edge as he fought to keep balance while Bellona walked slowly toward him.

"Having fun, Flame?" she asked, grinning sadistically. Roy finally balanced himself and stepped quickly away from the edge. Truth be known, he had no idea if he was having fun or not. He certainly wasn't _not_ having fun. He charged her, and snapped, set fire to the platform around her feet. He hadn't even noticed the scuff marks on the wood before now. Apparently, Bellona had been through multiple fights today. She jumped back quickly, but lost her balance and fell backward. Roy stood over her, with his hand outstretched ready to snap, when suddenly, memories tugged at the back of his mind…

_A young boy stood before him holding a rifle looking utterly afraid, cowering._

_A couple stared at him with terrified eyes. The mother pleaded for her and her husband's life while the husband clutched tightly onto a picture of their daughter._

_A city in flames stood before him, screaming could be heard over the cackling Hellfire._

A vicious crack woke Roy from his dreams when a stalagmite of ice shot up through the wooden ring, knocking Roy off balance and a final gust of ice cold wind knocked him completely out of the ring. He lay in an ungraceful heap as Bellona came toward him. She was panting and despite her control over ice, she was sweating profusely in the heat.

"That was the best fight I've had in a long time," she said as Roy got to his knees. He couldn't believe he had let himself lose. Bellona looked at his stricken face and offered him her hand. He took it reluctantly; it was heavily calloused as though she was accustomed to holding things in it. She pulled him up with relative ease.

"You are your own worst judge, Roy and you stop feelings so damn sorry for yourself."

"You know nothing of what it's like to be in war," Roy hissed. She looked at him, gaze steady as a rock.

"Oh I don't?" There was no mirth on her face. "I know more about war than you ever will. I have faced its hardships more times than I can count, but I continue living. To wallow in self-pity is no better than dying." Roy looked at her in awe. Her voice suddenly held a power that his mind could not comprehend. He felt cowed in her presence. She suddenly smiled at him and placed a hand on his cheek. "You should go and live your life. If you don't want to revel in your war stories, then don't, but don't live in fear of them. You did what you had to, to do anything else would have been treason. If you don't like the way something is run, dedicating your life to changing it." To the rest of the crowd, she raised her voice. "THERE'S NOTHING ELSE TO SEE TODAY FOLKS; HEAD ON HOME!" There were several disappointed moans from the crowd, but they complied. Roy left without another word and began to head home.

About halfway to his apartment he had a revelation.

"_If you don't like the way something is run, dedicate your life to changing it."_

Roy made up his mind then and there; he was going to become Fuehur and prevent another tragedy like Ishbal from ever occurring again in his lifetime.

Bellona smiled as she watched the young man in the street. Little did Roy know, but he had just made his revelation made known to Her and anyone else within earshot. She smiled at herself as her job was done. Hopefully this would help trigger the revolution needed to stop _their_ kind from getting the stone. With nothing more, Bellona disappeared without a trace.

A/N: Hello, this is my first FMA fic so be kind when you review, oh, and please review! There is something special about Bellona as she is what her name implies. Bellona was the goddess of war in Roman mythology. So it appears, that just in ancient times, the gods are trying to influence the fates of man. Catch ya on the flip side!


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